Accounting
major, minor
Accounting, “the language of business,” is used to communicate meaningful stories about business activities and financial results. A solid understanding of accounting is vital for business leaders and intrinsic to the success of any company. When leaders understand accounting, they understand how value is created, sustained, and evaluated. That, in turn, makes an accounting degree and the skills that come with it highly desirable in the global marketplace. Our Accounting program integrates study of financial reporting, managerial decision-making, and controls aligned with professional standards. Accounting majors are equipped with technical expertise and a principled foundation essential for long-term success.
Our Accounting students work with professors who draw upon deep professional knowledge, extensive teaching experience, and a genuine commitment to student success. Through applied coursework, professional preparation, and close mentoring, students develop technical skills, judgment, and confidence in a program that is both practical and personal, gaining confidence to use accounting knowledge with accuracy, integrity, and purpose.
Inside Look
Curriculum
The required courses in the accounting program build steadily on one another, culminating in a research-based seminar. Classmate and community partnerships are an integral part of our accounting discipline, as are the development and application of presentation skills.
To become a Certified Public Accountant (i.e. licensed to practice accounting professionally) will require a Bachelor’s degree and a total of 150-academic credits in some states. Although there is some variation among states as to specific courses needed within the 150 hours, the accounting major curriculum at Saint Michael’s can be readily augmented by existing courses to meet the content specifications. To accumulate additional credit hours toward the 150 hour requirement, some students use advance placement credits from high school, summer course work/summer internships performed for academic credit, etc. Others pursue a one-year Master’s degree in accounting or business in graduate school after receiving their Saint Michael’s Bachelor’s degree. Saint Michael’s has agreements with a number of graduate programs to set up potential graduate pathways for our accounting graduates.
Many states have recently revised or are in the process of legislating or changing rules to permit additional pathways to CPA licensure. These may, for instance, include a Bachelor’s degree plus two years of relevant professional experience (rather than one year typically required of candidates who earn 150-academic credits).
There are also many other accounting-oriented career opportunities in corporations, government agencies and non-profit organizations that do not require licensing as a CPA and are therefore not subject to the 150-credit hour requirement.
Special Opportunities
International Opportunities
Freeman Foundation International Internship
Sigma Beta Delta Honors Society
Saint Michael’s hosts a chapter of the Sigma Beta Delta Honor Society to honor outstanding academic achievement and scholarship by students studying business, management and administration. Sigma Beta Delta has more than 450 chapters in the United States and internationally. The society’s principles include wisdom (Sigma), honor (Beta), and the pursuit of meaningful aspirations (Delta).
Highlight
News
Finance minor complements a range of majors
Alumni Profile
Hanae Rhouat ’25
Careers
Our accounting major, rooted in a liberal arts education, prepares students for careers in a broad cross-section of organizations, including CPAs in public accounting firms; small and large corporations; government and non-profits; Vermont’s world-recognized captive insurance industry; and further accounting and business study. The coursework, along with the student’s advisor and other support services at Saint Michael’s, guides students through a rigorous and gratifying program that will help them realize their ambitions.
Graduates of the Saint Michael’s accounting program can be found as partners in national, regional and local public accounting firms, as chief financial officers for large and small businesses and non-profit organizations, as internal auditors in businesses and governments, lawyers practicing corporate, tax and estate law, as accounting teachers and professors, and as successful professionals in many other related positions.
After graduation, our majors go on to careers like:
- Accountant
- Audit Associate
- Tax Associate
- Audit Services
- Accounts Payable Representative
- Investment Administrator
- Captive Insurance Accounting
- Corporate Accounting and Finance
Contact
Steven Doyon
Director and Senior Instructor of Business Administration & Accounting
Jeanmarie Hall 149B, Box 38
sdoyon@smcvt.edu
802.654.2748
Ready to apply?
Take the next step at Michael’s College.